1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal and to a method for crimping a terminal on a shielded cable, and particularly relates to a terminal to be connected with a shielded cable by crimping.
2. Description of the Related Art
A prior art terminal for crimped connection to a shielded cable is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 5-27983 and is identified by the numeral 1 in FIG. 11. The terminal 1 is provided with an inner conductor crimping portion 1a, an outer conductor crimping portion 1b and a sheath crimping portion 1c as shown in FIG. 11.
The prior art terminal 1 is obliged to have a long length in view of the three crimping portions 1a, 1b and 1c arranged along the terminal 1 for the connection with a shielded cable 2. This long length stands as a hindrance to making the entire terminal smaller.
The inventors herein have considered using one crimping portion which serves both as the outer conductor crimping portion 1b and as a sheath crimping portion 1c. In such a case, the outer conductor of the cable is folded back over the sheath of the cable and crimping is applied to this folded portion in a manner that is designed not to damage the outer conductor. Alternatively, or additionally, it is desirable to apply a so-called "overlap crimping" to deal with a variation in cable diameter or for other purposes. This approach for addressing problems of the prior art is described in greater detail in copending application Ser. No. 09,442,289 filed Nov. 19, 1999.
Even with the above arrangements, it is necessary to increase a fastening force in the crimped portion to compensate for a reduction in the number of the crimped portions. This is also essential to ensure an electrical conduction with the outer conductor.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal and a method for crimping which can secure an electrical conductor.